Trump Victory Compels Internet Archive to Create a Copy in Canada​​

"On November 9th in America, we woke up to a new administration promising radical change," wrote Brewster Kahle in a blog post.

Kahle, who has spent his entrepreneurial career developing systems that provide universal access to knowledge, is the founder of the San Francisco-based non-profit Internet Archive, which to date has preserved 20 petabytes of digital data.

The news of Trump's victory moved Kahle to act.

"It was a firm reminder that institutions like ours, built for the long-term, need to design for change," he wrote. "For us, it means keeping our cultural materials safe, private and perpetually accessible. It means preparing for a Web that may face greater restrictions. It means serving patrons in a world in which government surveillance is not going away; indeed it looks like it will increase."

With that in mission in mind, Kahle announced his company's latest goal: to create a copy of the Internet Archive in Canada. "Lots of copies keep stuff safe," he wrote - a nod to the LOCKSS program at Stanford University, which preserves and provides access to digital content.

Those copies archived on Kahle's sit will include the millions of e-books available to Open Library patrons around the world, the archive of Political TV Ads and the 300 million Web pages saved each week to the the Wayback Machine.

Although it's unclear what Donald Trump has in mind specifically for the internet, he has made comments that would unnerve anyone concerned with privacy and accessibility.

At a campaign rally in South Carolina on Dec. 8, 2015, for instance, Trump said, "We're losing a lot of people because of the internet." He was referring to how ISIS had been recruiting members online.

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A few days later, during the fifth Republican debate, Trump answered Wolf Blitzer's question about closing parts of the internet, "I would certainly be open to closing areas where we are at war with somebody," Trump said. "I sure as hell don't want to let people that want to kill us and kill our nation use our Internet. Yes sir, I am."

The crowd applauded.

After Rand Paul pushed back, calling that stance unconstitutional, Trump said, "I'm not talking about closing the internet. I'm talking about closing parts of the internet where ISIS is."

Trump has also criticized net neutrality. On November 12, 2014, he tweeted, "Obama's attack on the internet is another top down power grab. Net neutrality is the Fairness Doctrine. Will target conservative media."

It's somewhat unclear what he meant, because the Fairness Doctrine, which was an FCC policy eliminated in 1987, doesn't have to do with net neutrality, which is a principle that says internet service providers should give all people equal access, without favoring or blocking websites.

The Obama administration advocated for a free and open internet, but president-elect Trump's FCC landing team is comprised of three people - Roslyn Layton, Jeffrey Eisenach and Mark Jamison - who have all criticized net neutrality.

It's no wonder Kahle is concerned. Having a copy located on servers in Canada would make it difficult, if not impossible, to remove content or to spy on user activity.

Kahle said that the new archive will cost millions and made a request for donations.

"Help ensure the Internet Archive lasts forever," he wrote. "I promise you - It will be money well spent."